On January 12th, 2010, Haiti was devastated by a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake, causing of one of the worst natural disasters in history. Up to 300,000 were killed and more than 1.5 million left homeless. See all of our coverage below, from the immediate aftermath of the disaster to recovery and reconstruction efforts and the long-term effects of the disaster.

Sister Mary Finnick, the director of Matthew 25 House in Port-au-Prince, is critical of the stalled recovery efforts in Haiti. "When everybody comes and has a solution for Haiti, it only creates a problem," Sister Mary says. "A lot of people are coming from the United States, but they’re doing the work the Haitian people should be doing. I would say, send the money you paid for your ticket to supplement a family so that...

Two-time Academy Award-winning actor and director Sean Penn was honored by the Haitian government on Monday at a ceremony marking the six-month anniversary of the earthquake that killed 300,000 people and left more than 1.5 million homeless. Penn first came to Haiti after the earthquake struck to help with immediate relief efforts. He decided to stay to finish what he started. He co-founded the J/P Haitian Relief Organization and is managing a...

Haiti remains a nation in ruins six months after one of the world’s worst natural disasters killed more than 300,000 people. Thousands of bodies still lay under rubble. We begin today’s show in Port-au-Prince outside what remains of the Montana Hotel, where some 200 people died in the earthquake. We speak to Patrick Elie, a longtime Haitian democracy activist and Haiti’s former Secretary of State for Public Security."We...

"People are living in ravines. They are living on sidewalks, jammed up against other houses," says Beverly Bell of the group Other Worlds. "They are creating structures out of any temporary material they can find, a lot of them no more than four sticks and bed sheets." Bell also talks about how the international reconstruction plan for Haiti revolves around the creation of four new free enterprise zones, which will expand...

We visited Camp Corail, one of the hundreds of camps for displaced people in Haiti. We spoke to two displaced Haitians, Romain Arius and Fenel Domercant. They talked about how little aid has trickled down to the 1,300 families in the camp. They were told they would only be in the camp for three months, but long after the deadline they continue to wait for permanent housing. [includes rush transcript]

International donors have committed $9.9 billion for the reconstruction of earthquake-ravaged Haiti over the next several years. Over fifty nations and international organizations made the pledges at a UN donor conference after the Haitian government unveiled a long-awaited rebuilding plan. It’s unclear how much of the pledges come from previous commitments and how much will actually be delivered. We hear from Haitians protesting outside...

Last year, the well-known activist medical anthropologist Dr. Paul Farmer was appointed the UN Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti. Farmer is founder of the charity Partners in Health, which provides healthcare for people with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other conditions in Haiti, as well as more than eight other countries around the world. He has vocally criticized US destabilization efforts in Haiti as well as major US corporations that...

Even as the people of southern Chile continue to grapple with the rising death toll and the devastation wrought by Saturday’s massive earthquake, many seismologists believe the wreckage could have been far worse. The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning was 500 times more powerful than the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th of this year. But it caused only a fraction of the casualties...

Haitian President René Préval said Sunday that the death toll from the earthquake could reach 300,000 once all the bodies are recovered from the rubble. We speak to Peter Hallward, professor of Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex University. "Unless prevented by renewed popular mobilisation in both Haiti and beyond, the perverse international emphasis on security will continue to distort the reconstruction effort, and with it the...

Much of Port-au-Prince remains under mountains of rubble, and Haitian officials say it would take years to clear out the rubble and begin the process of rebuilding the destroyed city. As pledges of billions of dollars of international aid and investment are made, debates over the vision of a new Haiti are already underway. Journalist Avi Lewis was recently in Haiti exploring the politics of rebuilding the shattered country. He spoke to a...